Maya Govt to rename KGMU as CSJMMU

A bill seeking to rename the university was passed in the assembly by a voice-vote, reports Gaurav Saigal.

The Mayawati Government on Tuesday decided to rename the King George's Medical University as the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSJMMU), by making an amendment to the KGMU Act.

A bill seeking to rename the university was passed in the assembly by a voice-vote.

In its previous innings, the Mayawati Government had named the institution as the CSJMMU. The government had upgraded the King George's Medical College to a medical university by an act passed on September 16, 2002.

However, a section of teachers of the university were against the new name at that time. They waited till a change of guard in the state and approached the next Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. They urged him to give back the institute its original name.

They pleaded that the students had been known as Georgians ever since the inception of the institute in October 1911. Georgians, they said, were spread across the globe and bound together by the common name.

A worldwide campaign to change the name from the CSJMMU to the KGMU was run by the International Georgian Association. Emails were exchanged from across the globe and signature campaigns were run.

In December 2003, on the request of the alumni association and the faculty members, the university's name was restored and it came to be known as the King George's Medical University.

As soon as the Mayawati Government took up the reins in the state again earlier this month, it was speculated the name might change again. Hindustan Times had carried a report on the subject on May 13.

While some see the change in the name as politically motivated, others are worried about their identity as Georgians.

Soon after getting the information about passage of the bill, the university administration had started the process of changing the name on the stationery.

"The change in the name will be incorporated in our records and be used for official communication," said the registrar Yashwant Rao.